


Flawless

by kyeian



Series: Flawless [3]
Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 15:58:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9392465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyeian/pseuds/kyeian
Summary: A few wizards, an ex-bartender, and a dragon walk into LA and...well, okay, it's not supposed to be a bad joke.  Brian would be the first to admit that working for the dragon has distinct benefits, but also distinct drawbacks.  Lucky for him, he's friends with a couple wizards. Non-Canon (OCs)





	1. Chapter 1

#### Chapter One

 ***Ryan**  
    I ran up the stairs the apartment, moving into the place and ducking for the kitchen as I noticed Collin on the couch. "Hey," I greeted him, digging out a drink.  
    "Hey," he returned, studying me. "Your class go well?"  
    I shrugged at him, digging out a can and gesturing for him.  
    "Sure," he muttered.  
    I passed it over, studying him with interest as I noticed he wasn't quite meeting my eyes.  
    Were they...  
    I stared at Kevin's identical twin a long moment, he was avoiding my eyes, but I hadn't had a soul gaze with him yet. Considering that meeting eyes with Kevin meant a small room with a shelf dedicated to me, I wondered why Col thought he could trick me into thinking he _was_ his brother. Maybe _they_ hadn't met eyes in a while, they had so many twin mannerisms that it was ridiculous, though.  
    "How'd your day go?" I asked curiously, turning to dig out snacks. We tended to have a box or two of the crap Collin liked in the house because he'd show up randomly. I moved to pour a bowl full of the stuff so I could set it between us. I wanted him to keep up the game until Kevin got back, because Kev would know I'd caught him with the snacks.  
    "Not bad," he returned. "Traffic sucked."  
    "Car alright?"  
    "I think so," he made a face. "You got a letter from L."  
    "Oh," I hopped up turning to move over to the mail on the counter to dig that out. I noticed a second letter that was...from Brian? I was pretty sure his surname was Nelson. I blinked at it, then dug down to double check the rest of the pile. It was mostly bills otherwise.  
    "I think you missed something," he noted.  
    "Hm?" I asked, breaking into Brian's letter first.  
    "I think you overlooked something," Collin supplied, grinning at me.  
    "I'm sure Kev will tell me later," I reassured him.  
    Kevin burst out laughing from the door to the hall—we were renting an old office, and it had a hall with four offices off the main room. We didn't go back there unless we had wardens in town because it was cheaper to keep our space warmed.  
    "What?" Collin protested, sitting up straighter. "How could you tell?"  
    "I don't actually know," I returned as Kevin bounced over to us.  
    "He did not know until the end!" Collin protested, looking to his brother.  
    "Yes he did!" Kevin retorted happily, pointing at the snacks. "I don't eat that crap."  
    "We have that for you specifically," I pointed out, waving the letter to Kev.  
    "I honestly don't care how well her last test went," he retorted, moving to sit next to his brother.  
    I snorted, glancing up at them. They had the exact same position, mirror images of each other. They did it all the time. I wondered if they realized they kept their hair trimmed to about the same length.  
    "It's from Brian," I retorted.  
    "What?" Kevin asked, sobering.  
    "Your boyfriend?" Collin asked brightly.  
    "You're both stupid," I stated, waggling the letter at Kevin. "He says he needs to stay in town for a few nights and that he'd said he was going to write us to be sure, and Bui gave him our address two hours later."  
    Kevin snorted.  
    "I wonder if Josh has the address," I muttered, glancing back to Collin. "You hear the psycho?"  
    "Your...boyfriend?" Collin asked.  
    I watched him a long moment, realizing that he was really avoiding my eyes. I smirked slightly, continuing to watch him. I knew it'd take him a minute to acknowledge it, but sometimes my urge to smack him only led to fights; other forms of retribution could be just as satisfying and lead to less angry roommates.  
    "Stop!" he complained.  
    "Come on," I cajoled happily, moving across the room to stare down at him. "I have Kevin."  
    "I know you think it's great, but I think it's terrifying," he retorted.  
    I leaned down, bracing myself against the coffee table as I watched him. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't know for certain that he'd avoid it to the point of leaving the house.  
    Kevin huffed and threw a bit of cloth at me. I started laughing as I backed off, studying his face carefully as I picked up the t-shirt. Kevin was certain of me, Collin was the dominant of the pair of them, but Kevin reacted to me first. If I'd crossed the line with either of them, he'd let me know, and I'd have to work damn fast damage control.  
    The problem with Kevin was that he tracked me.  
    I'd had a soul-gaze with my little sisters at various points when we were younger, so my association with it had mostly been that of someone you were _close_ to. The battlefield incident that had caused my and Kevin's gaze had been caused because he needed help getting to Collin, who'd been injured. The others in our group had been uncertain about proceeding...and I'd known we had to get the twin back.  
    I had gotten him back, and I'd had to make my very own last stand. I'd thought I was dead, and something about that moment...that moment when I was on my own watching a creature going for Kevin. It had been terrifying, and something inside of me had snapped. The force I'd tapped into had sent the creature flying before I'd laid out everything coming at me. We'd been given three minutes of reprieve, which had been enough to get us and the others all back to the safe zone.  
    But that moment...Kevin had reached Collin, going to his knees to check on his brother. He'd seen the thing coming at him as I'd yelled, and he'd turned to meet my eyes. From then on he'd been my best friend; we'd always been friendly. We'd both been shaken by that incident, and we'd both understood each other.  
    Since he knew me so well, he knew when to distract me. He tended to mitigate my violence, though he could also incite it. We'd had instances of both during the war and since.  
    He shook his head very slightly at me.  
    I moved back, turning back to the letter and reading it again. That response was either that I'd gone too far or that Collin was having issues. Either way, I needed to do something else.  
    "Brian wants to stay with us?" Kevin added after a moment.  
    I had a feeling that he and Collin'd had one of their twinversations, where they had entire discussions without a word.  
    "Uh, yeah," I looked back to them, seeing Collin curled against the back of the couch.  
    Okay, it was him having issues, that body language meant emotional upset.  
    "He says he wants to come here for three days because Gable needs him to meet with someone and then pick up a package."  
    Kevin nodded, then shrugged slightly. "I guess we can just leave that wing open. When is he coming?"  
    "Uh..." I blinked, looking up to him and smirking.  
    Kevin raised his eyebrows at me.  
    "Today," I explained, turning the envelope over to see the date. "He sent this more than a week ago; I wonder how long it was in the post office."  
    "So..." Kevin hesitated.  
    There was a knock on the door.  
    I snorted, taking the letter and envelope with me as I moved to look out the peephole.  
    I wanted to laugh when I saw Brian standing there. He looked nervous, but healthy...and he was wearing my sweater.  
    I pulled the door open, studying him with interest.  
    "So, I made an assumption," Brian smiled nervously at me. "I didn't hear back from you, but..." he focused on the envelope.  
    I laughed, pulling him into my chest. "I cannot believe you're still wearing it. I wanted to steal it back."  
    Brian laughed, hugging me as well. "If you have one that smells like you, I'll trade."  
    "Are we going to have to have a conversation about this?" I asked, stepping back to let him in.  
    "Um...shouldn't you invite me in?"  
    "Well, Brian is a mortal, so crossing my threshold won't do a thing to him."  
    Brian snorted at that, moving in and heading down the hall with me. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know how else to contact you. L said you just call her, so..." he trailed off as he looked at the twins.  
    "Brian!" Kevin said happily, bouncing up and moving to hug him. "I'm glad to see you again, you look well."  
    Brian smiled nervously as he studied Kevin's face, then looked to Collin again.  
    "I know, it's sidetracking," I agreed. "Collin doesn't usually stay here—Col, this is Brian something or other. Brian this is Collin Ruix."  
    "Hey, nice to meet you," Collin noted brightly as he stood and extended a hand to the male. "That sweater is an interesting fashion statement."  
    "I told him the story," Kevin noted dryly. "Don't let him make you feel self-conscious."  
    Brian smiled between them, shifting back to look around at me curiously.  
    "Um, feel welcome to stay," I urged, tapping the letter against my hand. "Kevin and I have some work we have to do, but I can get you a totem to pass the wards."  
    "Huh?" Brian asked blankly.  
    "It's like a key to the house," Collin explained. "Only, if you don't have it you're not just locked out, you're blown to bits. So, you're Ryan's boyfriend?"  
    Brian _stared_ at him a long moment, then looked almost nervously around to me.  
    I rolled my eyes, turning to open L's letter. If I didn't let Collin tease me about something, he'd try to find another way to needle me. He was incredibly jealous of Kevin's attention, and so far in their lives, I was the only one that Kevin had held on to.  
    "I'm sorry," Brian noted nervously. "I'm straight."  
    Collin _burst_ out laughing, seeming delighted. "He's straight, Ry, you're out of luck!"  
    "You are ridiculous," I informed him, rolling my eyes to Brian. "I'm not gay or bi or anything, he just loves making people nervous of me in whatever way he can. He's part of the group that calls me the destroyer."  
    Brian blinked, looking back to Collin again, then around to Kevin. "You're not going to warn me about that sort of thing?"  
    "Nope," Kevin returned happily, moving around to dig into the ice-box. "I think it's hilarious to watch people squirm. It's even funnier because you were all curled around Ryan the last time we were in Vegas."  
    Brian gave him an amused and offended look, moving to sit on the couch as he looked around.  
    "How are you?" I asked the human with interest. "Last I heard, you were still working for Bui, this letter says that. Is it good?"  
  
  
***Brian**  
    The fact that Kevin had a twin weirded me out to the Nth degree. If they weren't identical, it would have been easier on me, but they even had the same haircut. Even _that_ would have even been alright, but Collin seemed to think it was hilarious to trick me into thinking he was Kevin. If Ryan was in the room, I could tell which one I was talking to, but all three of them were in and out.  
    I started to feel a little intrusive when my stomach rumbled, and I frowned at my phone. I had a meeting with some sort ally, but Gable had sent me to Los Angeles with the time it took to drive and rest for a night. He'd actually arranged it so I had visiting time, because he knew it was important for young men like me to spend time with my friends.  
    For all that he insisted that he didn't understand mortals, he certainly knew how to keep me happy. He was considerate of me to the point that I felt like I was shirking my work, and I'd had to find the way to balance his consideration with the job.  
    Of course, when he'd noticed I was doing that, he'd gotten even worse.  
    I sighed, rising slightly and looking up to see Ryan.  
    "Hey," Ryan smiled at me, then ducked into his bedroom.  
    I felt a pang of disappointment and sat again, pulling up my browser. It'd probably be easier for me to get a hotel; I hadn't realized my letter would have been so late to get to them, so I really was...  
    "Here."  
    I flinched back from the cloth that landed in my face, pulling back. I stared down at a sweater when it landed in my lap, then looked up to Ryan.  
    "Don't let Kev see," he said quickly, gesturing. "If you weren't serious about the smell thing then I'll take it back, but..."  
    It really did smell like him. I stared at the material, then smiled in spite of myself and moved to tuck it into my bag. I'd been supremely disappointed when I'd had to wash the one I wore, but it really hadn't smelled like him for a while before that. I had no idea what that really meant in the larger scheme of things, but if he wasn't going to tease me about it, I didn't feel the need to fuss.  
    "Sorry," he added as he looked through the fridge. "Collin showed up with no warning, and we usually have to clean and dust the rooms back there," he indicated the hall they'd been going through. "It's not a problem or anything, but in order to have a bed, we have to change linens and stuff."  
    "I'm sorry," I noted, seriously, studying him. "I didn't mean to be that unannounced."  
    He waved it away. "It's not worth the fuss," he promised. "We're always game to have guests. Now, it's about supper time, and Collin will eat whatever we bring him. The ice-box is empty, so I'm thinking Chinese food or pizza."  
    I smiled at that, feeling better. "Pizza is easier in bulk?"  
    "Good point, hold on." He turned his head toward the hall. " _ **Kev? Pizza?**_ "  
    " _Yes!_ " either Kevin or Collin called back.  
    Ryan waited.  
    Someone started laughing hard, and one of the twins appeared in the door to look at us brightly.  
    "Pizza sounds good," he said happily.  
    Ryan nodded, turning and heading back into his room.  
    I followed, wondering if that had been both males chiming in on the pizza or just one of them...and then froze as I looked the room over.  
    It was the room from the soul-gaze. There was no blood on the floor, and it wasn't dark to the point you couldn't see it...the view out the window wasn't a bright desert and there was a full size bed instead of a cot, but...  
    "Hm?" Ry asked curiously as he gathered up keys and a wallet from a desk.  
    "This room..."      
    "I've lived here my entire adult independent life," he met my eyes. "I don't know how Josh knew about it, but the actual details you see are made up of bits of my life that are anchors. They can be benign, like this room, or they can be...incredibly personal, like the crying little girl."  
    "And I shouldn't mention it," I remembered, thinking a moment. "Sorry, it just sort of shocked me to see is all."  
    He nodded, moving past me toward the front of the house. He stopped, turning back into his room. He dug into the drawer, then moved over to me and extended...a bracelet. It looked somewhat like a friendship bracelet, but instead of beads, it seemed to have...gems.  
    "Red jade," he explained, gesturing. "It's the totem. Let me put it on you."  
    I raised my wrist and watched as he tied it down, muttering something. I waited to feel something from it, but nothing happened.  
    "We have wards on the stairs and the door," he noted, turning to lead me down the hall again. "It distracts petty robbers or sales people; only people who are looking for us specifically can get up the stairs, and they'll believe the door is unbreakable and locked. We only actually lock it when we're out of town, so you can get in and out if we aren't here. You wanna drive or you want me to?"  
    "You, if you don't mind," I noted, rubbing at my face. "I only stopped once on my drive in. I'm sort of sick of it."  
    "Alright," he agreed, leading me down the street to their crappy looking old car. I didn't even recognize the make of the thing.  
    "It's going to take a while to get the pizzas," he sighed as he moved to unlock the passenger door.  
    "Call it in?" I asked, patting my phone curiously.  
    "Oh, hey, you can do that, huh?" he asked brightly, moving around the car. "I'll stay over here so you can get a connection; we just need four larges. We usually do a pepperoni and a meat lover's."  
    I nodded at him, tilting my head. "Which pizza place is it?"  
    "Place called Pan Favorite," he supplied. "They always try to tell me to order online and freak out when I note I don't have internet."  
    I smiled at that, typing the name into my phone and considering the three branches that showed up. I had no idea what life would be like without access to a cell phone, and I was more than willing to give him the benefits of it when I could.  
    "Oh, it's over on Archer Street," he added. "I think they have a few more places in town, but we go to that one."  
    I nodded, clicking the call button to that address and winking at the wizard as he climbed into the car.  
  
  
***Ryan**  
    It was fun to sit with my friends as the evening wore on. Brian had been excessively amused when he'd noticed that our ice-box was not a fridge, and we'd brought out the beer cooler to go with the pizza. Collin had seen Brian fussing with his phone as the evening went on, and had started teasing him about checking in. It had went from that to talk about the phone itself, and then all the neat things that Brian could do with it.  
    It was late before Kevin stood and stretched, he'd noted that he worked early, and had wandered off to his bedroom. Collin had said good night to us and followed, and Brian had looked around to me with interest.  
    "They'll catch up for an hour or two, then Col will find his bed," I noted, gesturing toward the hall. "Sorry about the electricity."  
    "No worries," Brian waved it away. "I don't suppose you have hot water, do you?"  
    "I can put some on," I offered, looking around to the stove.  
    "I meant for a shower," he retorted.  
    "Oh," I hesitated. "Well, the hot water tank only gives us about five minutes of heat. The three of us are used to cold, so you can use that when you get up."  
    "What do you do?" he asked blankly. "Stand there with it freezing?"  
    "Nah, you get in and get wet, turn the water of and soap up, then rinse it back off," I grinned slightly.  
    He shook his head. "That's insane. You're insane. I should ask Gable if he knows a water heater that will work for wizards."  
    I snorted at that. "I somehow doubt the dragon cares."  
    "No," Brian agreed, looking around and gesturing to the room. "Do you suppose we should go in there?"  
    "Sure," I shrugged, moving to grab the candelabra. "Kev does have to get up early, so I guess considerate works."  
    He snorted, following me into the room and immediately climbing onto the bed.  
    "Do we have to talk about this?" I teased, setting the light on the desk. "It's about time for me to write L back, if you don't mind."  
    "I wanted to finish catching up is all," Brian supplied, laying across the bed. "You can wake me up if I fall asleep and I'll take a candle and burn your warehouse down."  
    I grinned at him, indicating his phone.  
    He laughed, obviously thinking a moment. "You guys _have_ electricity, right? Because I have a phone, laptop, and tablet that I need for work."  
    I made an unhappy noise. All three of those things accessed the internet. "Yes, we do," I muttered. "We limit our use of it, though, because lightbulbs blow. Your room has a light and a few outlets."  
    He nodded, yawning and looking around. "You care if I grab a pillow?"  
    "Nah," I reassured him, pulling out my clipboard and stationary. "You said Bui is considerate of you, but you never finished explaining it."  
    "It's great," he yawned as he pulled a pillow up. "He was willing for my day to start at three in the afternoon if I wanted. He changes to a dragon each night and patrols the city limits, though. If I'd have done the three thing, he'd have stayed up until I'd put in my hours, and then slept until I came back...it's what he wants. He wants me in the morning, and then at night for the rest of it. I started out doing four morning hours and four night hours, then realized that he meets with people at night—I hadn't thought of it, really, but he does night shift, meaning that most of his meeting times are between eight and nine at night. So I go over at about seven in the morning. We tend to work through letters and messages, then he goes to bed and I put in another hour nailing down the night's meetings...he changes at about midnight, so I have to account for it."  
    "What all do you do?" I asked as I considered L's letter. "I wasn't sure what personal assistant would imply."  
    "He really wants me there to tell him why a human is doing what they're doing; there was this mob guy who tried to get me killed when I noted that he was lying to get more time for his loan. He _seriously_ hired someone to take me out. I shit you not, I had someone follow me back to Bui's one night...came in and told us both that he was supposed to blow my brains out. Scared the piss out of me."  
    I frowned at him.  
    "I wanted to talk to you," he noted in amusement. "But that was when L said that you call her."  
    "I use the payphone out front," I noted. "Our house phone doesn't do long distances."  
    He studied me a moment. "You don't care that I wanted to call you."  
    "I do care, it upsets me that you felt like you needed to," I retorted, then realized more of what he was probably getting at and tilted my head at him. "I suppose I should note that my life has been about protecting people; I have three little sisters and a brother. I have a little nephew who sits with me the way you were in Vegas; not so great for your personal pride, I suppose, but I don't mind."  
    "Do you give them sweaters?" he retorted.  
    I laughed at that, shrugging. "That strikes me as funny, more than anything," I noted. "And Col will flick you shit, but I've seen Kev use something of mine as a pillow before. It's usually emotional upset, and I got over being weirded out by it."  
    He studied me a moment, then sighed and looked the room over. "Well, I think Gable _ate_ that guy. I had to tell him that it emotionally rapes me when he asks me if he can eat someone. It wasn't until I said that specifically that he started paying attention to it. He realized that him eating people scared me, not that he ever did it where I could see it anyway, but he stopped letting me know when it happened."  
    "How often was that?" I asked, focusing on him. If Bui was being a menace, I'd have to report him to the council.  
    "Well, it happened once with a different guy, someone running prostitutes," he shrugged slightly. "The guy had five women, and they were in pretty bad shape...Gable noted that five was a small number and they should be flourishing. They were actually shouting at each other and the guy left the house. I waited while Bui gave chase, and when he came back he asked me if I wanted the prostitutes. I flipped my shit," he smiled tiredly. "His idea of rape was vague, and his argument was that prostitution was the world's oldest career. I pointed out that the women working with that sort of man were not willing for it, that they'd been tricked into coming by being offered other jobs...he actually got angry with me because he didn't understand why I was suddenly emotional. It was a bit traumatic, actually. He...has this yell," he met my eyes again. "I swear it's more spirit than physical. When he yelled at me, I sort of crumpled into sobs."  
    "That is bizarre," I said quietly, studying him. "How are you still okay to be working with him?"  
    "He cares about me," Brian shrugged. "It's a bit creepy how much he cares. When I started actually crying he set the women free and proceeded to buy me a ton of shit while telling me he's a beast and can't help it. I have to control myself, because his response to anger is buying things. You should see my apartment, it's hilarious. The only reason he hasn't bought me a house yet is because he's not sure how to do it without causing me a huge tax increase."  
    I tilted my head at him.  
    "I'm almost positive he's going to realize that he can provide me with employee housing," he noted dryly. "I might _have_ a house by the time I get back to Vegas."  
    "That's neat," I offered, setting the pencil down. I wasn't going to be able to write L while we talked. I shifted down in my seat. "I'm still sort of torn about him eating someone who hired an assassin to kill you."  
    "Right?" Brian asked, grinning slightly. "I went to meet with Gable for supper at this restaurant he likes. He prefers taking people out to eat at the nicest places in town, and we were talking and he said he'd taken care of the problem so I didn't have to worry. I'm sort of nervous about it, but your type all know me."  
    "My type?" I protested, amused.  
    "Fae and creatures," he agreed. "Wizards and vampires; I actually had a professional lunch with the damn woman who used me when I got hired at Secrets. She was all on about what a good time we'd had and how she wouldn't mind doing it again. I was starting to fall under her sway again when Arkady sort of swaggered up to me—Arkady is one of Gable's guards. He's married to this...ah man, this woman," he smirked to me. "She's all passion and fire, and they're absolutely in love with each other. Anyway, Arkady decided to be my guard because my history is with the whites, and he's very loved by her; his touch burns all the vampires. He's done it since before I even quit Secrets. Like, Gable explained to them that he wanted me to work for them, and they all took it upon themselves to find out my schedule."  
    "Doesn't that seem...extreme?" I hazarded.  
    "From the outside," he agreed. "But Gable is kind of an awesome employer. I don't know why, but he has unlimited amounts of money. He gave me six thousand off hand when I started. I was waiting for my first check from him and my last check from Secrets to come in and had some bills that were late. He gave me that for my rent."  
    I snorted, leaning forward to rub at my face.  
    "Then Hoc gave him a report on my bills—they are _super_ invasive of privacy sometimes. I came in the next day and Hawk had a phone for me and told me that it was for my private use...that's what this is," he added, showing me the phone.  
    "Hawk?" I asked, blinking at him.  
    He tilted his head at me. "The secretary who emailed me the job offer," he noted. "It's spelled H O C. He's actually a live-in servant."  
    "So they just give you tech?" I asked curiously.  
    He nodded. "I asked them to be honest with me about tracking devices, and he said that the phone is registered to a family account that Gable can track, but he doubted Gable would ever do it and he'd have to walk him through it anyway. I worry sometimes about them eavesdropping, because this is insanely too good a thing. I think the thing about it is that I can still get eaten, it'll just be more than my energy."  
    "You know we'll come for you," I pointed out, indicating Kevin's room.  
    "I was hoping to spend more time with him," he admitted, frowning at the door. "But I think his brother will make that messy."  
    "Col is here for a reason," I shrugged. "I just don't know it. It's either a job or he needs emotional support. Something happened."  
    He nodded, then sat up and tugged my sweater off. "I'll leave this in here, if you want. We can pretend I left it behind and I won't pull the one you gave me out until I leave."  
    "Don't worry about it," I reassured him. "It's chilly in here as evening goes on."  
    He hesitated, then nodded. "I'll be right back."  
    I watched him go, then focused on the stationary. I started writing L a quick summary of Brian's arrival, then smiled at him when he reappeared with the other sweater on.  
    "You really don't seem to mind," he noted as he curled back up on my bed. "Is your family like this?"  
    "Like this?" I echoed, blinking at him as I set the pencil down again. "My little sisters were, and my nephew."  
    He blinked at me. "Wait, your sisters are all little? Your brother?"  
    "My brother is older than me, and my sisters are in their teens," I hesitated, then smirked at him. "You wanna guess which one has the kid?"  
    He grinned at me.  
    "My brother," I added, gesturing slightly. "He and his girlfriend have a three year old."  
    He nodded, yawning and looking around the room. "I'm tired."  
    "What do you do at night?" I muttered. "You said you do a couple hours in the morning, then come back."  
    "Go with him," he shrugged. "We go meet with people of all sorts. My usual job is to sit next to him and explain behavior. He's had me at his feet so many times now," he rolled his eyes. "If he pets me I swear I'll swat him. He thinks it's great. It's one of the reasons that assassin didn't do the job. People can't tell if I'm his child, lover, or what, and the more I go around with him the more I realize that his power base is huge. His power base is bigger than Josh's family."  
    "You've been keeping up with Josh?" I asked quietly, considering the letter to L briefly. "L hasn't said too much lately."  
    "I did at first," he frowned slightly. "He asked me to coffee a while back, but we ended up arguing. I'm still trying to convince L to have Gable's baby."  
    I _focused_ on him.  
    "I know, I know," he waved a hand vaguely. "But the thing is, Gable promised me... _so_ much money if I could convince her. I don't harp at her or make her feel uncomfortable...I just promised to split it with her."  
    "You...shouldn't talk to me about this," I noted.  
    "I realize that," he sighed. "But the fact of the matter is that Josh can't be with L if she's not willing to have sex with someone else. He's getting worse, and I tried to point out that if she did...I mean, Gable is sort of generically impressive, she'd probably enjoy it. I know!" he said as I started to draw myself up. "I only said it once when we were drinking together and she giggled for an hour after, we were talking shit at each other. It doesn't matter, though, because Josh hasn't called me for help or anything."  
    "If you're Bui's pet," I noted, "then you're probably beyond his reach...and if you're trying to convince L to carry another man's child, he's probably not happy with you."  
    Brian sighed and nodded. "It's sort of lonely, really."  
    I frowned slightly, tapping the pencil on the desk briefly. "I can give you our message number."  
    "You have a phone here, right?"  
    I nodded, gesturing. "It doesn't do long distance, though."  
    "No, you can't _call_ long distance," he corrected. "If I called you, we could talk as long as I wanted. My phone does at least all of North America, and I think Central America, too. I'll have to look at my account to be sure, but I'm unlimited."  
    I felt another ping of frustration with my limitations. Being able to call L when we were bored would be great. Not to mention calling my family.  
    "I'll have to look up our number," I muttered.  
    He snorted, then yawned again. "I've been trying to get in touch with Josh for a bit," he noted quietly. "But it's not easy when he's avoiding me. L said she'd talk to him for me, but nothing's come of any of it yet. I am sorry...about dropping in on you like this."  
    "I like having friends over," I reassured him. "The only problem with dropping in is that we have to clean up the hall."  
    He nodded, looking around the room distantly.  
    I decided to leave him to it, he was about to fall asleep. I focused on writing to L for a long minute, then looked up to see him watching me.  
    "Sorry," he muttered, looking away. "I'm exhausted."  
    "I'll wake you up when I go to bed," I reassured him. I tilted my head a bit. "When did the assassin thing happen?"  
    "Earlier this week," he muttered quietly, trying to keep his eyes opened.  
    I studied him a long moment, then gestured. "I'll wake you up."  
    He sighed and nodded.  
    I focused on writing my letter, telling L more details about what Brian had said. I hoped he had his phone charged, because he hadn't said anything to me about _when_ his meeting was going to be.  
    By the time I'd finished writing, I could hear Col's snoring from Kevin's room, and Brian had rolled over to the wall and covered.  
    I stopped at the edge of the bed, bouncing it with my knee. "Hey."  
    "Huh?" he muttered, blinking tiredly up at me.  
    "If you're sleeping in here you need to move your phone. I don't dare touch it."  
    He stared dazedly at me a moment, then shoved himself up and looked around blankly. Finally, he crawled unsteadily off the bed to set it on top of my letter to L.  
    I somehow got the impression he wasn't actually awake, so I helped him to lay down again and snatched my pillow from him. He smiled vaguely before laying down on the second pillow and flinching.  
    "Hm?" I asked, yanking the covers from under him.  
    "It's cold," he muttered distantly. "I'm cold..."  
    "Here," I muttered, pulling the blanket back up and turning to close my door. I moved to blow out the candles, then dropped back down on my mattress with my own yawn. He was probably going to call me on not sending him to the other room, but I honestly couldn't care.  



	2. Chapter 2

#### Chapter Two

***Brian**  
    I woke up in confusion, looking around the room blankly. I reached to the spot on near the pillow where I normally kept my phone, then sat up and looked around. For a long moment, I had no idea where I was, then I blinked down at Ryan and snorted.  
    Sure, he'd wake me up.  
    I shook my head, noting that my phone was flashing on the desk. I crawled over the wizard, realizing that I could hear someone moving around in the main room. I grabbed the phone and dropped into the chair, feeling a pang of anxiety.  
    Gable had texted me.  
    _I hope I am not being pestersome, of course, but I was wondering if you had made it to your destination_.  
    I dropped my head back against the chair a moment, then hit reply. _I'm sorry. I made it alright. I should have messaged at that point, but my letter to stay over had only arrived yesterday afternoon. It distracted me_.  
    It was four-thirty in the morning. I was not even remotely ready to be awake, but I felt terrible for forgetting.  
    The phone buzzed slightly, which would have been what woke me up. _No worries, I'm glad to hear you're safe_.  
    It might have been silly, but seeing the contractions made me relax. Gable had a formal manner that was exacerbated by his annoyance.  
    _I had a good visit with them_ , I added. _I have my alarm set for nine so I can be sure to get to the meeting on time. How did your night go?_  
    We went back and forth for a bit as he told me about a meeting he'd had. The conversation was full of praise for me, since I'd evidently taught him enough about human mannerisms that the whole meeting had made sense.  
    I had a feeling that the people he'd eaten before had confounded him and stopped making sense. The only human emotion he really understood was fear, though he had built up a close relationship with his entire staff.  
    Hell, how guilty I felt proved it. I should have texted him that I'd arrived and I felt like a kid who'd disappointed his parents.  
    We concluded the conversation with him apologizing for waking me and me promising him not to worry, and then I sat there looking over the dark room as candlelight came under the door.  
    Considering that all the time I'd spent with the pair of wizards had been in hotels, it was weird to see everything run without electricity. Their fridge was a fridge-shaped cooler, and they filled it with ice from an ancient ice machine down near the warehouse entrance.  
    I heard voices, quiet, before footsteps receded.  
    That should have been Collin, right?  
    I slid out of the chair, moving across the room and poking my head out.  
    Kevin, I thought it would have to be, turned to look at me then smirk.  
    "Kevin?" I asked, stepping into the room and closing the door.  
    "Yeah, Collin went to bed," he reassured me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."  
    "Gable texted me, I forgot to tell him when I got here."  
    He nodded, gesturing to the eggs he was cracking. "I'm about to light the stove; want some?"  
    "Light the stove?" I asked blankly.  
    He laughed and indicated the odd little fireplace that sat next to their stove. "The range is old so works decently, but when I'm tired, it's easier just to do a fire. Am I cooking for you?"  
    "No, I'm going back to sleep in a bit," I reassured him. "I just hadn't gotten to really talk with you."  
    "Col can be a beast," he agreed, smiling tiredly at me as he turned and started fussing with shreds of wood in the stove. "Sorry about that. What happened?" he indicated Ryan's room with a nod of his head.  
    "We were still talking when you went to bed, so I just went in there with him. He told me he'd wake me up and send me to bed, but I just had to crawl over him to get to my phone."  
    Kevin's eyes flashed with amusement.  
    "I'd complain about it, but I'm going to go back in there to sleep again, so not worth it."  
    Kev laughed quietly, lighting a match. He set it into the fireplace, watching as something lit.  
    "Won't that take forever to get hot enough to cook on?" I asked blankly.  
    "I cheat," he reassured me, then stopped. "Your phone's not on you, is it?"  
    "I left it on the desk," I gestured.  
    He nodded, putting a narrow piece of wood into the small opening. He turned back to the eggs he'd been fussing with and started stirring them...and adding things.  
    I watched the process in confusion, wondering _how_ long he'd been awake. I was pretty certain that magic couldn't make food, which meant he'd had time to cut up whatever he was fussing with. "Uh," I muttered after a minute. "How have you been?"  
    "Not bad," he glanced back at me with interest. "I met a girl; customer service at the dojo."  
    "The dojo?" I asked, smirking at him.  
    "Yeah, across the street there," he pointed toward the front of the building. "She's pretty, nice, and new. The other woman who works there has eyes for Ryan, so I didn't bother with her, but this one is a little Asian princess."  
    I smirked at that.  
    He grinned back and shrugged. "I'm meeting her for lunch later today, and then we need to go do a round of the city."  
    "Of LA?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, Gable takes all night to do Vegas, and he flies."  
    "No, we have this...pattern we do," he waved it away. "We do an area a week. It'll take us a few hours, but we'll be pretty quick."  
    "You two are wardens, right?" I asked, thinking about it.  
    Kevin didn't respond for a moment, looking back at me. "Wardens?"  
    "I work for a _dragon_ ," I pointed out, grinning at him. "I know your council polices the wizards. I know you remember running around a hotel owned by a dragon with your wizard friend, fighting a vampire and trying to rescue a bartender."  
    He burst out laughing, covering his mouth and turning to give me a dirty look.  
    I laughed quietly. "It's something L told me," I explained. "Because our first sight of Gable was in his dragon form while we were barefoot leaving the hotel. We turned around and went back up and eventually came across Josh, who'd been feeding on a woman in the hall."  
    Kevin made a face, nodding.  
    "She said that she decided she was in a coma," I smirked.  
    He laughed again, then shifted over to the stove. He rested his hand on the edge and muttered something quietly.  
    The pressure in the room _changed_. It wasn't a normal feeling, and I blinked as he closed the door finally. There was a cast iron pan on top, and he spooned butter onto it from a dish on the counter. It was interesting, because the butter immediately melted. Kevin turned and poured the egg mix into it, setting the bowl into the sink before coming up with a wooden spatula.  
    "That can not be hot enough," I protested.  
    "I told you I cheat," he retorted, swatting my hand away before I could touch the metal. "I re-balanced the heat. It'll put the fire out faster, but it's enough to cook my eggs."  
    I nodded, watching as he started stirring things. "I watch the dragon change almost nightly, but you making a stove hot unnerves me."  
    He laughed quietly at that, looking me over. He raised his eyebrows slightly at the sweater, then went back to stirring the food.  
    "It makes me feel bad," I said quietly, moving my hand near to the stove to feel the heat. "You were the one who said you'd come for me, you were the one I left the message for, but he's the one who I gravitate toward."  
    "It was the soul-gaze," he grinned at me. "I didn't think about it at the time, but I had him do the gaze intentionally. I was glad we got you away from Ethan, and Ry hasn't had a violent incident since."  
    I grinned at that, rubbing at the sweater. "I think I'm going to lay back down."  
    He nodded at me focusing back on his eggs.  
    I hesitated a moment, wishing I could think of something else to say, then turned and moved back into Ryan's room. My phone was sitting face up on the desk, and there was no notification, so I crawled over the sleeping wizard. He seemed quite dead to the world, so I moved back to the wall with a yawn, settling under the blanket.  
  
  
 ***Ryan**  
    Doing our patrol was a boring thing. We drove around an area to get a feel for the place, then moved into a few of the shops. This one actually had an occult shop, so we did our usual check in with the owner. He reported that things had been quiet in the area, agreed that he'd leave a message for us if something happened, and we went back out to drive around.  
    With Collin in tow, the trip seemed to go faster than normal. We laughed and joked, and as we finished, we picked up some meat.  
    Brian's meeting had been scheduled for some time around ten, and he'd said it'd easily go to noon. He hadn't been back to the house by the time Kevin got home from his lunch with Ari, but he knew we had to do our patrol.  
    His car wasn't there when we got back, either.  
    I frowned as I headed up the stairs, looking around the living room for a note, then ducked into my room to double check that there wasn't one there.  
    Damn.  
    "Nothing?" Kevin demanded.  
    "His stuff in that room," Collin noted, frowning between us. "So what do we do?"  
    The house phone, which was on the counter, rang.  
    We all jumped and exchanged looks. Kevin and I both moved at the same time, but I caught it first.  
    "Hello?" I asked, readying myself to hear a ransom demand.  
    "So, I'm at the Huntington Library," Brian noted. "And Gable is furious."  
    "What happened?" I asked, relaxing slightly.  
    "I picked up the tribute," he supplied. "We had our lunch meeting, everything was going fine, and when I went to leave the lady said she was sorry, but Bui needed to know where the line was. It was nothing against me...and she brought...some guy in."  
    "Are you okay?" I demanded, gesturing for my friends to get their weapons.  
    "I...yeah," he hesitated. "The guy grabbed me, he hit me and...I've got some bruises."  
    I rubbed at my face, considering what I wanted to bring to fetch him.  
    "I'm in an Asian garden," he noted. "If I see anyone, I'll head into the library itself. Gable said he'll contact some people here who can exact retribution for me, but I think he's expecting me to just rely on you."  
    "Fair assumption," I noted. "But we're about forty minutes from the library on a good day. I'm not sure what the traffic will be."  
    "Ryan, he cut my shirt off," Brian said in a strained voice. "I'm actually bleeding."  
    I slammed the phone down, turning to my room to grab my staff and blasting rod.  
    "What's up?" Kevin asked quietly.  
    "He picked up the tribute, had his lunch, and the woman he was meeting with called in a goon. He's bleeding and alone at the Huntington Library."  
    Kevin started swearing, and Collin _yanked_ my blasting rod from my hand.  
    I was in his face before I realized it, but I couldn't think properly. There was a buzzing in my ears and something felt numb. He snarled something back at me about collateral damages at a museum and threw the blasting rod back into my room.  
    Neither of them tried to stop me grabbing my sword.  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    I got looks when I took a handful of paper towels into a stall with me, but I didn't care. Those people would forget about this fast. I pulled up Ryan's sweater carefully and pulled off the bloody compress I'd put on it before.  
    Gable hadn't even suggested that there might be an issue with this woman, who was evidently a _siren_ of all things. Her house was situated on this piece of property with a lake, and her tribute to him had been a strange crystal that he'd been excited to get.  
    Now, I'd never heard _why_ he was getting tributes at all. He'd mentioned getting a few since I started working with him, but the only one I could actually talk about was the old ancient book the wizard council had given him in exchange for an old ancient book. That had been delivered by a pair of young idiot wizards who'd managed to get married on the strip.  
    Though, that was the reason why I knew Ryan and Kevin. ...on the other hand, if Ryan and Kevin hadn't come to Vegas that time, they wouldn't have fought Ethan and Ethan wouldn't have then decided to turn his ire onto me.  
    Though if none of that had happened, I wouldn't be working for Gable.  
    I pressed the new paper towels to my chest, noting that it seemed to have stopped bleeding finally. I flushed the bloody papers one at a time, hoping not to back up the system. All sorts of creatures could do shit with my blood, though, so I didn't want it left in the trash or something where it could be found. I was pretty sure the toilet water would mess up whatever properties it had magically speaking.  
    The siren, Eleni Antoniou, looked like a young woman. She seemed almost innocent, her voice was addicting to hear when she was _speaking_ , and she'd had the type of model good looks that I tended to associate with white court vampires.  
    She had a murder of victims, if that wasn't what siren thralls were called I was going to say it to enough right people to _make_ it what siren thralls were called, that lived on her property. They were all males, and their main trait seemed to be strength. The man who'd come in to grab me hadn't been handsome, he'd been average. He was broad and thick like Ryan, and had only waited for Eleni to make a humming sound before grabbing me.  
    Sadly, the fact that Ethan had thrown me around had been the only reason the beating this guy gave me hadn't left me too shocked to think. When he'd come at me with scissors I'd panicked. My shirt had come off, and while I'd had a moment of shock that had made me freeze, I had managed to get away. I'd barely gotten into my car, and there had definitely been a car following me.  
    Calling Gable to tell him about the incident had only taken me a moment, and he'd proceeded to yell at Hoc for a bit—not in anger, until Hoc had found Ryan's number. They'd texted it to me, and I'd taken the first off ramp that had appeared. I still didn't know how I'd gotten on a highway at all. The only top I'd had in the car had been Ryan's sweater, so I'd grabbed it. It made quite the statement with my super expensive slacks and shoes.  
    I checked my phone again, wanting to go somewhere and curl up. I couldn't tell if anyone was following me, and the fact that I had to run like this made me angry.  
    At least Ryan was here.  
    I moved down the hall toward the garden entrance again. It only took me a minute to be out of the building, and I wandered back to the Asian garden area...and felt a sharp tinge or relief.  
    Ryan, Kevin, and Collin were standing at an intersection arguing.  
    "Thank god," I muttered, moving up to Ryan immediately and pressing my face into him. He was tense, but he hugged me back with a huff.  
    "You alright?" one of the twins asked.  
    "I don't know, I hurt," I returned, not looking around to him. I had a few bruises on my face, but more along my back, chest, arms, and legs.  
    "I put a circle around your car," the other twin noted. "I checked it for magical surveillance; I'd have run a hex for mechanical, though, and I don't know what tech you have with you."  
    "It's all at your house," I offered. "Aside from my phone."  
    It started buzzing in my pocket.  
    "Go ahead and sit," the second twin noted, gesturing at a bench. "Kev?"  
    The other twin, evidently Kevin, nodded and walked away.  
    I moved to sit on the bench, noting that it was Gable and answering immediately.  
    "Please tell me the wizards have you," the dragon said in a voice that had a slight strain to it.  
    From his usually cultured and composed manner, that strain sounded like a shout.  
    "I just met up with them," I agreed quickly, looking up to Ryan. He was waiting where I'd left him. "They're checking my car for tracking at least."  
    "You realize that your radio is going to stop working, right?" he asked quietly.  
    "I can replace it," I reassured him, wanting to go back to Ryan. "Um, are you okay?"  
    "I've decided to take retribution for myself," he said calmly. "I will shortly be transforming and heading your way. Do you have that necklace I gave you?"  
    I touched the charm of the thing briefly. It was one of his scales, thin enough to be semi-transparent and the edges had been rimmed with silver. "Of course."  
    "I will use it to locate you once I've finished with Miss Antoniou."  
    I nodded, then made a noise of confirmation.  
    "Be easy," he urged. "You're with your wizard, are you not?"  
    "Yes, he's standing far enough away that he's not interfering with our connection."  
    "Ah," he sounded slightly enlightened. "Very well. I will provide him remuneration when I see him tonight; any amount he wants."  
    "He's my friend, he'll probably deny the offer," I muttered, rubbing briefly at a sore spot on my face. "He acts to protect his friends, and he'll note that he hasn't actually done anything. I escaped on my own, they met me here and are doing things to help, but I don't think they'll feel like they've earned compensation."  
    "Hrm," he made a thoughtful noise. "I may have to consider this further. Would you approve of me gifting them something?"  
    "I like seeing my friends receive benefits," I agreed. "Though I'm not sure if money would be the appropriate item. Ryan noted in passing that their hot water heater only provides them with maybe five minutes of hot water. I believe the odd interaction magic has with technology is to blame. Personally, if it exists, I'd like them to receive a hot water heater that could withstand them and provide proper hot showers."  
    "I'll get Hoc to look into it," he noted. "Now, I'll let you get back to your wizard. Please be sure to keep the necklace on. I will try to warn you of my approach so that they can lower their wards."  
    "Thank you," I said quickly.  
    The call ended, and I pocketed my phone, I moved over to stand near Ryan, smiling tiredly at him.  
    "You still doing alright?" he asked quietly.  
    I nodded, leaning into him.  
    He sighed slightly, but didn't otherwise react. There was something strange in his body language. He was very focused on the area around us and tense, but the tension didn't seem to be in the side I was leaning against.  
    "He said he'd give you guys money for helping."  
    "We didn't do anything," he protested. "You did it yourself."  
    I smiled slightly, happy that I'd called that properly. "Well, he's coming anyway," I muttered. "He decided that he wanted to deal with her himself."  
    "Who even is it?" he asked. "I realized when you weren't home that I had no idea where you were. If you do this again, you're going to have to treat me like your bodyguard or something."  
    "I think if I do this again, Gable will have someone come with me. You're right, though, it was dumb of me not to tell you."  
    "Let's start for the cars," he urged, pulling away. "Once we get out there, Col will have it hexed and you might have to call for a tow, but there won't be any trackers on it."  
    "My car didn't have the advanced electric system," I offered. "It's mainly just my radio."  
    "Yeah, that will most likely be a brick."  
    "Well, I imagine Gable will be more than happy to let me stay here until it's fixed," I grinned at him.  
    We wound through the beautiful and quietly buzzing building toward the parking lot. I wasn't paying a lot of attention since I could feel that my cut had started bleeding again, but he slowed almost randomly.  
    I looked up, then focused on _him_...the man who'd attacked me. He was standing near my car with a confused expression as both of the twins lounged against it.  
    "Oh, _yes_ ," Ryan hissed, pulling his staff out.  
    "Uh, Ry?" I said nervously.  
    "You found new play friends?" the male asked me, his eyes sparkling maliciously as he looked between us. His nostrils flared slightly, and he licked his lips as he focused on Ryan.  
    Ryan spun the staff around in his hand, shifting how he stood so he was definitively between us.  
    "You should tell your friends that a siren is not to be toyed with; she'll take him, she'll take them all."  
    "Eleni?" Ryan asked, slowing slightly to look around to me curiously.  
    I nodded.  
    He smirked, sliding the staff away...and that was when I realized he had his sword, because he pulled it from its sheath.  
    I stared at it in disbelief, trying to figure out how he'd gotten through the building with it. It glinted in the sunlight...and he spun it around his hand like he'd been doing with the staff. There was a casualness to the gesture that made me wonder how long he'd _had_ the thing.  
    The male focused on it, then stopped moving. His expression changed slightly as he started shaking his head, raising his hands to protect himself.  
    Ryan licked his lips, stepping forward. "Run," he whispered.  
    The male turned and sprinted away without a second glance, tripping on a curb hard. The twins started laughing, and I looked back to see that Ryan was caressing his sword with his free hand as he watched.  
    "Three," one of the twins noted happily. "Two..."  
    "One!" the other shouted excitedly.  
    Ryan _launched_ after the man, and for a broad man he could really hustle. The other man shouted in fear as he tore off across the parking lot, and Ryan kept after him.  
    "So _that's_ why he likes you so much," the first twin noted, the one who'd been counting. "You provide him his sadism!"  
    I wasn't sure what to say to that as I looked to the other.  
    "Don't mind him," the second noted, rolling his eyes. "He thinks that people only use each other."  
    "I do not," the other protested. "But come on, Ry let's his violence get controlled. You control it, he _likes_ it when you control it. This kid keeps bringing him people to pound on, too."  
    "I'm _barely_ any younger than _you_ are," I protested, offended at that. I moved nearer to them, blinking when something almost seemed to buzz near me.  
    "You broke my circle," the one I took to be Kevin complained.  
    "It was _my_ circle," the other retorted.  
    I frowned between them, then heard a shout and turned to look.  
    Ryan was hovering over the male and evidently punching him. He sat back after a moment, looking toward the sky, then shook his arm out.  
    "You wanna...?" Col asked.  
    "Right," Kev agreed, sliding off the car and sprinting across the lot.  
    "I've heard about you," Collin noted, looking back to me with overly intense eyes. "I realized it earlier today. The word is Bui took on a new young lover; you said you were straight, so I'm curious."  
    "Gable's interest is on the girl L," I retorted, leaning against my car. "He wants to breed, and if he has a lover at all beyond that, it'd most likely be Hoc."  
    "Is it true that he buys you everything your heart desires?"  
    "He tries," I noted dryly. "I told him to stop, but when he makes me angry, he gives me things. I'm his personal assistant."  
    "You personally assist with personal things?" He asked, smiling wickedly at me and making a suggestive gesture with one hand.  
    "I translate humans for him," I retorted. "I also set up meetings for him."  
    "From everything I hear, he's proud to possess you; I just haven't figured out why yet."  
    "He doesn't _possess_ me," I complained. "And I don't think he's _proud_ of it, anyway. He finds me useful."  
    He smirked at me again.  
    "You seriously need to get laid," I informed him, rolling my eyes. "I cannot believe I'm arguing with you about this. Actually, I'm not arguing. I'm informing you; I'm explaining to you what my job is."  
    "Keep telling yourself that," he urged.  
    I snorted at him, letting the matter drop as my heart continued beating hard in my chest. Kevin had done something to interrupt Ryan, and the wizard was standing off to one side stretching as if he'd just gotten up from a nap.  
    Kevin did something, still kneeling down, then stood and turned to talk to Ryan. Ryan nodded calmly, then turned to _strut_ back to us.  
    "I'm so glad they stopped sending him out with me," Collin muttered quietly. "He's a damn terror when you manage to find the on switch. He doesn't have an _off_ switch, either. He almost brought his blasting rod, do you have _any_ idea how much would have gone wrong if I hadn't gotten it from him?"  
    "He has one?"  
    "Yeah, Ryan with a blasting rod is a holy terror," Col met my eyes seriously, but only briefly.  
    "Gods," I muttered, rubbing at my face. "Please keep avoiding the soul-gaze. I don't need _that_ shit again."  
    "Right?" he made an amused noise. "Don't worry, I constantly think about it. I guess I come off as crazy when mine is done."  
    I wondered if that meant he _was_ crazy, then focused on Ryan, who smiled brightly at me before coming around to pull me to his chest.  
    "Ryan," Col sighed, "you realize that he's _not_ your little brother, right? I haven't seen you do that since the last time we both met up with Evie."  
    "Col, meet my eyes," Ryan retorted.  
    "No way in hell," Collin retorted.  
    "Don't start," Kevin ordered them both in a put-upon tone. "I had him call Eleni, she's bound to be nearby. Let's get out of here, I'm sure she wants that back," he pointed at the wrapped hat-box I had in my passenger seat.  
    Ryan passed him his car keys and made a few hand signs that looked like sign language.  
    Kevin nodded, turning to their car, which was parked next to mine. I hadn't noticed that.  
    "What?" I asked blankly.  
    "Let's go," Ryan supplied as Collin moved to follow his twin. "I don't think that beast was the only one Eleni had after you," he looked toward where the man had fallen. "Which means that they'll follow us out of here."  
    I nodded, moving around my car and using the key to unlock the door. I was nervous that it wouldn't work, but the doors all unlocked without issue. My car wasn't a new model, but it had worked fine so far. I had to see if it could stand up to a wizard's hex, though.  
    Ryan moved the hat box to the back seat with an interested expression, then slid in. The car started on the first try, and I let out a slight sigh of relief. I looked around briefly, then bit my lip and focused on my hands, which had been shaking for a while.  
    "Right," he muttered, standing back up. "Let me drive."  
    I slid from the driver's seat and moved around to the passenger seat, buckling and dropping back with a sigh as he started flicking switches. He nodded after a minute, then put the car in reverse.  
    "Where are we going?" I asked quietly as I pressed my hands to the paper towels under my shirt.  
    "First to get some gauze and something to clean that," he supplied, glancing briefly at me. "I can smell the blood. Then somewhere out of the way to wait for the attack."  
    "I'm sorry," I said quietly.  
    "It's not your fault," he reassured me as he changed lanes in a way that I found psychotic. I watched his car in the side mirror, doing the exact same maneuver. A car further back tried to get over, but got stymied by the traffic.  
    "I feel like...your life was easier before you met me," I muttered, staring distantly at the mirror.  
    He _laughed_ at that, the sound of a belly-roll in it. " _No_ ," he reassured me easily. "The only thing that changed is we've had a soul-gaze; otherwise this is sort of my life."  
    "Why are you okay with that?" I asked tiredly.  
    "I used to care," he glanced at me. "But there comes a point where you have to let it go. I enjoy violence, I wouldn't be happy anymore if I couldn't fight. Don't worry about me, we need to think about you. Today's going to be hard, you'll be tired as hell in a few minutes."  
    I blinked around at him, realizing that my eyes felt heavy. "How can you tell that?"  
    He shrugged. "Don't worry about it."  
    I realized that I didn't care, I trusted him. It was probably ridiculous, but I did. I let my eyes close, trying to think of a way to stay awake...  



	3. Chapter 3

#### Chapter Three

***Ryan**  
    Considering that Kevin knew my plan, he vanished pretty quickly after we got away from the library. I considered it for a long moment, then decided that the most likely thing was for him to pick up the cleaning supplies and bandages. That meant I needed to shake the tail.  
    I focused on doing so, amused. Brian looked constantly on the verge of falling asleep as I swung through traffic like a madman.  
    The thing was, Eleni Antoniou was not having a good run of anything. She'd moved to the region back after the reds had vanished, and was thus setting up shop when Kevin and I took our post.  
    We'd had...run-ins with her. For one, she'd attempted to lure me into her little venus fly trap. I had no idea how she fed, all I knew is that she had at least ten men who lived on the property with her; she'd lured them all to her lake and nearly drowned them. To a man, she saved them from that drowning and nursed them back to health before sleeping with them. They became her thralls somewhere in the process, and from what I could tell, they were genuinely content to be with her.  
    Kevin and I had capped her operation by warding outside her property. No matter how hard she tried to lure a new man in, they'd reach the property line and get blasted away a foot or two, which snapped them out of their trances nicely. It had been my first major work of magic, inscribed into the earth itself. I'd nearly died setting it up, but unless she could dig down to bedrock around her property, _outside_ her property, she couldn't break my working.  
    She _hated_ me, because I'd gotten away from her. Every time she failed to lure in her males, she lost power. The stronger the male, the more the power. I'd hamstrung her, and while she was recovering, I'd closed in her property.  
    The loophole was that people intentionally entering her property were able to, but she was scared of Kevin and I, so careful. She'd probably intended to add Brian to her collection of males, and I wondered how much power he actually had. I supposed he was handsome, he had some of the look my sisters were attracted to, which meant that he'd probably have been her favorite.  
    I wondered, idly, if he'd get along with Maddy.  
    I liked him, maybe they'd hit it off. Of course, Maddy would kill me for even suggesting it. I'd introduced her to males I'd liked before and she'd been mortified that I was looking for a boyfriend for her. I'd asked if she liked girls instead, because I knew a few of those who'd probably be good...and she'd sort of thrown a fit at me. Evidently, I was being a boar; she would _not_ date one of my friends.  
    My mom had laughed at me.  
    I smiled at the memory. I'd been furious with Maddy after she'd ripped me a new one. I'd told my mom that there was _nothing_ wrong with Rich, and that I was sure Maddy would like him if she gave him the chance. She'd told me that I was probably right, but Maddy only saw me as meddling with her, and at the time she'd been too young to date.  
    I glanced at Brian again, thinking about the matter. He was taller than she was, and at least back when he'd worked at Secrets he'd had a six-pack. He'd said he'd been working with a model agency to get hired into that club, so he'd probably be acceptable in the looks area...should I mention him to her? I'd have to do it carefully. I'd have to show him a picture of her, too.  
    "What's going on?" he muttered, shifting to look at me blankly.  
    "Plots," I reassured him, gesturing it away. "I think we lost that car, so I'm going to do a bit of pointless driving."  
    He nodded, rubbing at his eyes. "Um, I told you Gable was coming right?"  
    "Something like that," I agreed, thinking about it. "I didn't think about it at the time; what does it mean?"  
    "He changed form and is flying over," Brian blinked hard at me a few times. "He said he'd forewarn me so you can lower your wards."  
    "He knows where I live?" I asked, feeling nervous. I suppose he had to if he got the address for Brian to write me, but still...  
    "Um, I suppose if he looked at a map," Brian reached up and touched something at his throat. "I have a scale, though; he'll use it to find me."  
    I glanced sidelong at him, curious.  
    "I think he said before that it'd take him two hours to get here," he added, rubbing more at the sweater. "So...if we get to the house before then..."  
    I made an agreeing noise, though I had no intentions of inviting a _dragon_ into my house. I knew my threshold probably couldn't limit him or even Josh very much, but damn it, that was my _home_. I'd worked years to keep it in order, it had been my retreat during the war, the place I could hide.  
    But then, was I willing to leave Brian somewhere that wasn't as safe?  
    I turned without signaling or slowing, then turned into an alley and parked.  
    "Huh?" Brian's head jerked up.  
    "Checking for an obvious tail," I explained. "I'm not sure we lost anyone."  
    He nodded, leaning back and rubbing at his face. "I can sleep, right?"  
    "Sure," I agreed, watching behind us and noticing the tribute-box again. Whatever was in it had a throbbing power, it was similar to music. I couldn't feel anything else from it, but it was a little distracting.  
    Brian settled tiredly, going silent again.  
    I waited a few minutes to be sure no one would show up randomly, then started slowly up the alley. There was a parking lot midway through it, so I swung over into that and parked in the shade for another minute. I wasn't being entirely thorough, but I also knew that these chases could go on for hours. I didn't imagine they'd let themselves get caught this early in the game.  
    I took off again, driving at normal speeds through some residential streets before winding my way onto a main road. I happily changed lanes without signaling, turned into parking lots and alleys, and all manner of other things that would annoy the living shit out of someone chasing me. It took most of an hour before I decided I could meet up with Kevin, and with any luck we'd only have to hold them off for twenty minutes or so before the dragon showed up.  
    I headed across town, then for the park we used as a fallback when things started going nuts. I pulled into the lot, seeing my car and friends nearby. It only took me a moment longer to park, and I climbed out of the car without waking Brian.  
    "You lose them?" Kevin asked curiously, watching the road behind us.  
    "As far as I can tell," I agreed, watching a car drive by without slowing or noticing us. "I suppose it depends on how many cars they had tailing us."  
    "What's the plan?" Collin asked curiously, watching the road distantly.  
    "We wake him up," I shrugged, indicating the sleeping male in the car. "I want to get a look at his wounds, and he said Bui is coming. He said it'd take him two hours to get from Vegas to here, and he's wearing a scale."  
    "A dragon scale?" Kevin blinked at me.  
    I nodded, looking back to see Brian watching us with a confused expression.  
    "Can we see it?" he asked curiously.  
    "I haven't asked yet," I returned. "I figured we can do that now while we wait," I looked around the field thoughtfully. "As long as there's no kids' sports going on, this would probably be a good landing zone for the dragon."  
    Brian finally shifted and moved, pushing out of the car and standing there blinking at us.  
    "You alright?" Kevin asked quietly.  
    "I'm tired, feel sick to my stomach," he muttered, moving around to join us, leaning into me with an unhappy noise.  
    "We want to look at your dragon scale," Collin noted. "If we can, anyway. And we need to look at your wounds. That bruise on your face is nasty."  
    "It feels it," he noted, not looking at us. "Maybe I'm sick because the pain. I can't even tell."  
    "Take the sweater off," Kevin suggested. "Ryan can put it on and keep it warm for you."  
    Brian started laughing at that, pushing away from me to glare at the twins.  
    Collin elbowed his brother, muttering something in their personal language. From what I could tell it was something about not teasing, but they refused to teach me any of it.  
    "Come on," I urged him quietly, turning to tug the sweater up. _Ha_ , he did still have the six-pack abs. The paper towels he had pressed to the cut stayed stuck, though, and I made a face at the idea of cleaning that off.  
    Brian plucked carefully at the paper towels as Collin turned back to the car. It took the human a bit to get most of the wound cleared, and I stared at the foot-long gash as the tingling sensation started at my ears again.  
    "Is this it?" Kevin asked curiously, grabbing the charm from Brian's necklace. It was a partially opaque _thing_ with shiny metal around the edges, hooked to a leather thong.  
    "Huh?" Brian asked, looking down as best he could before swatting Kevin's hand away. "That's the scale, yeah."  
    "Let's get water first," I suggested to my friends as Collin fussed with a bag on the hood of my car. He came back with a water bottle and a cotton pad, soaking the cotton and passing it to me.  
    I wanted to complain at them both about making me do it, but the fact of the matter was that Brian was most comfortable with me.  
    "This might hurt," I told him, and started to dab carefully. The wound had started bleeding before I finished, and Brian was hissing with every touch. I wanted to be sure that I got the paper towel bits out, though, so I kept on.  
    "Damn it, what did you get to clean with?" Brian hissed as Collin brought the bag over.  
    "Numbing stuff," Collin supplied, pulling out a bottle and opening it quickly. "It stings like hell at first, but then it will mostly be numb. Here."  
    Brian made an unhappy noise at me as I took the bottle and read the directions quickly. I knew how Kevin and I used the stuff, but that didn't mean we used it right. But...it looked about what we did.  
    "Sorry," Kevin muttered...and pressed a kitchen towel to his stomach.  
    Brian flinched from the touch, glaring at Kevin a long moment, then swore and tried to step back as I started pouring. Collin stopped him, and he swore harder as the liquid spilled down his chest.  
    Kevin used the hand towel to dab along the wound after I'd finished, and Collin dug out the gauze and medical tape.  
    I wondered, briefly, if it was bad that we worked together to have him bandaged up before he could recover himself enough to fight us off.  
    Brian was shivering when we finished, and looked between us nervously as Collin passed around the hand sanitizer.  
    "Oh!" Kevin turned and ducked back into the car, coming out with a second bag and digging out a t-shirt. "You're still mediums, right?"  
    Brian blinked and nodded, taking the white shirt from my friend. He studied it a moment, looking back up to Kevin.  
    "I didn't think about the white thing until we were at the park," he smirked slightly. "Sorry."  
    "White thing?" Collin asked curiously.  
    I realized that I could feel something in the air, something strange and hot. I looked around as Kevin explained about Josh and the color white, and Brian sighed slightly as he settled the shirt around his hips. He turned to grab the sweater again, pulling it on and letting out a longer sigh.  
    "You guys...feel that?" I asked nervously.  
    Brian made a noise, reaching a hand up to press his necklace again, then looked around with a slight frown.  
    "What?" Kevin asked blankly.  
    The ground _shook_.  
    I swore, pulling out my staff as a giant Chinese dragon landed behind us on the field. He was in his human form before I could really accept the concept of a giant red lion-headed thing, his eyes moving between the four of us.  
    "Gable," Brian said quickly, moving to him.  
    Bui pulled Brian into the briefest of hugs, looking him over with a frown.  
    "What?" Brian asked, relaxing slightly.  
    "Blood," Gable explained, looking between us again before focusing on my hands. "I smell your blood."  
    "Does it have a distinct scent?" I asked blankly.  
    He smiled at me with his too wide mouth and too sharp teeth, though I saw amusement in his eyes. He moved across the intervening space as the ground shook, and bowed formally to me. "I owe you thanks," he stated. "I'd repay my debt."  
    "You're welcome," I noted, bowing back just as formally. "And that is all the debt there is."  
    "You've acted to protect my servant from harm," Gable pointed out.  
    "I've acted to keep my _friend_ from harm," I corrected seriously.  
    "Who is here at my behest and was attacked by my enemies," he met my eyes.  
    _Damn_ it.  
    I felt like I was _falling_. A huge void of throbbing heat surrounded me before going through me entirely. It was like I no longer existed, only that heat...before I caught sight of a large airy room made of flames and ember. Bui was sitting on the edge of an ember desk, and throughout the room I could see dark silhouettes of people standing or lounging, and I realized that Brian himself was sitting in the chair in front of the desk, watching him...the position meant more than presence, it meant that Brian was genuinely important to him.  
    Bui looked me over, looked to Brian, then smiled at me with his overly sharp teeth.  
    I stumbled back, nearly knocking Brian over.  
    "What's wrong?" Brian was asking seriously.  
    "Ah," Bui said in a tone of understanding. "I see," he noted, looking between Brian and I. "He chose for you to protect him."  
    "I suppose," I muttered, still trying to understand the concepts layered throughout what I'd seen. His image had smiled at me, that was a good thing, right?  
    Bui stared at me a long time, then looked back to Brian. "Do you seek to control me, wizard?"  
    "No," I said, swallowing slightly.  
    "Ah, it's not a literal statement," he nodded seriously. "Heed me, Wizard. That boy there has brought me a new level of understanding and compassion for the human species. Any harm you do him will come back on you thrice. Likewise, I believe he's taken me into his own emotional consideration, so any harm you do to me will be inadvertent harm to him."  
    I didn't reply to that as Brian gave him a perplexed look, then frowned at me.  
    "You two are the same person," Bui stated, looking around to Kevin and Collin. "It's an odd thing to see in freaks, considering how uncommon it is in the mortals. Would either of you like to gaze upon me?"  
    Collin looked entirely away.  
    "No, sir," Kevin said calmly.  
    Bui considered them both, then looked back to Brian, reaching a hand out to rest on his shoulder. "Are you well?"  
    "Emotionally upset," Brian supplied. "But Ryan's presence gives me comfort."  
    Bui sighed slightly, then looked around. "I will attend to Miss Antoniou," he stated, stepping away from us. "Go where you will," he looked back to me. "But be aware that your wards would not have the strength to keep me out of your home."  
    "Brian takes you into his emotional consideration," I noted dryly. "And since you've only ever worked to aid him, I do not see you as an enemy."  
    Bui nodded, looking back to Brian.  
    "What?" Brian asked, shifting nearer him.  
    "The blood," Bui supplied. "It makes me hungry."  
    Brian _froze_.  
    "I'd not eat you," Bui reassured him. "But it was occurring to me that you've most likely not eaten since lunch. I'll treat your friends after I attend to this. Pick any venue I'd approve of."  
    Brian nodded, swallowing slightly.  
    "I won't eat you," Bui persisted, patting Brian's shoulder. He turned, taking a few steps away, then jumped.  
    It looked comical to see a mature Asian man in a suit hop into the air, but a half second later he was a dragon again. We all stumbled, turning away as he launched into the sky.  
    "You know how I was teasing you earlier?" Collin asked in a slightly shaken voice. "I'm sorry about that."  
    Brian smiled slightly at him, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought.  
    "So...what does he mean, he'll attend to Miss Antoniou?" Kevin asked, frowning to me. "Doesn't that suggest him eating her?"  
    "It might," I agreed, looking around, "but I honestly don't think there's any chance of us _stopping_ him, and since the council is trying to work with him, I'm not sure what they'd want us to do."  
    "Ixnay in front of the ugglemay," Collin muttered.  
    Brian turned to _**focus**_ on him.  
    Collin sniggered, not looking at him.  
    Kevin called him a dumbass in their language, and Collin laughed more without looking around.  
    "What language is that?" Brian asked, blinking at Kevin.  
    "Pig Latin?" Kevin asked curiously.  
    "Not that," Brian protested. "You said something else."  
    "It's a twin language," I gestured the words away. "He just called him a dumbass...and, dumbass," I looked to Collin. "Did you just miss the dragon telling me that he'll hurt me if I ever hurt Brian?"  
    "Can't we distract everything by the fact that I just called him a muggle?" Collin retorted. "And let's move on, because he said he'd treat us to dinner, and I'm curious to know what sort of place he'd approve of."  
    "The sort of place where you have to change into slacks," Brian retorted, giving him a mildly offended look. "And, because you want to move on, I'm going to point out that _I work for a dragon_ , I _**know**_ about the wizard council."  
    "Shut-up," I ordered him seriously, looking around. "And let's get back to the house."  
    Brian nodded, rubbing at his chest with a frown. "I'm sort of not thrilled that I make him hungry."  
    "He's not going to eat you," I reassured him, moving around to the driver's seat. "You saw that we had a soul-gaze, right?"  
    "That you're remarkably unshaken by," Collin pointed out.  
    "He's actually been rocked," Kevin retorted, moving toward my car. "We'll meet you."  
    I nodded, watching them get into the car before Brian moved to get in with me, rubbing at his chest again.  
    "Stop touching it," I ordered, frowning at him. "When we get back to the house, you can use your phone to look places up, right? I don't think he owes us anything, but I'm not going to be a dick and tell him he can't take us out to eat."  
    Brian nodded, still pressing at his wound.  
    I gave him a look, hitting the breaks.  
    Brian smiled slightly at me, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've never heard him say that the smell of blood made him hungry."  
    "It's probably not the smell of the blood, exactly. You ever get a whiff of fresh beef? It makes me hungry."  
    "Beast," he complained. "Now I'm getting images of my chest being cut up for the meat."  
    "There's not much meat there," I protested, grinning sidelong at him as I moved back onto the street.  
    "Can we step back and look at that as a traumatizing statement?"  
    I laughed in spite of myself, giving him an apologetic look. "Sorry; do you want me to tell you what I saw?"  
    "What?" he asked blankly.  
    "In the soul-gaze," I supplied. "Because while there was a _ton_ of information that I couldn't even absorb, the one thing I saw was you sitting at his left hand. The way you were meant that you were the equivalent of his left hand."  
    Brian turned to blink at me.  
    "So whatever else, he won't eat you anytime soon," I shrugged. "And with luck, he means it when he says he won't at all. Now talk to me, because I have this internal voice telling me to go save Eleni from being eaten that I'm having a hard time ignoring."  
  
  
 ***Brian**  
    I found a decent restaurant fairly close to the house that fell into Gable's usual set of preferences, and had the amusing interlude of supervising the three wizards getting dressed. It included my opinion on outfits, the fit of the outfits, and if this or that shirt were too worn out to be appropriate.  
    My chest was _throbbing_.  
    I stared distantly at the far side of the room as the three males did grooming things that were evidently complicated. Shaving, for instance, seemed to take them an inordinate amount of time. I wasn't paying too much attention, because I was starting to fall asleep on the couch. When Collin started cackling, I roused myself enough to wander to the bathroom door.  
    Collin, who was wrapped in only a towel and still dripping, was bouncing where he stood and laughing at Ryan, who was swearing as he leaned into a little mirror.  
    "What is that?" I asked blankly, staring at the thing.  
    I hadn't actually thought too much about their bathroom since I'd only used it twice, but there was no mirror on the wall. There'd been an odd little bracket, and that evidently held the little tiny mirror.  
    "Mirrors are portals," Ryan supplied, considering a wound on his neck before grabbing a little white stick and rubbing it against the spot.  
    I blinked at him a long moment, then looked down to the straight-edge razor he was using. He flashed me a brief grin, then grabbed a weird belt thing that was attached to the wall, and started running the blade along it.  
    "Why don't you have normal razors?" I asked blankly, watching that.  
    "Because you can't sharpen them," Ryan retorted. "And when you forget to go buy more, it's a problem."  
    I had to admit that was true, and watched as he leaned into the mirror to work more on his throat.  
    "I have disposables," Collin noted. "And I'm freezing, the idiot won't move so I can go get clothes on."  
    "You are not freezing," Ryan retorted, focused on his task.  
    "I want to shove him," Collin informed me.  
    I snorted, moving away from the door to look around. Kevin appeared, smiling slightly at me, then flicked his wrist so I could see a nice little watch on it—he was in slacks and a nice top already.  
    "You can tell us apart with this, right?" he asked curiously.  
    "I'm assuming that as soon as I rely on it, you'll give to him to wear for a while," I pointed out.  
    Kevin laughed happily at that, then shifted to so I could judge his outfit.  
    "That's fine with nice shoes," I reassured him, rubbing at my face.  
    Something outside _exploded_.  
    Ryan swore again as Collin came out of the bathroom. We were all looking around to each other to see who knew what was going on.  
    My phone started ringing.  
    I gestured for Kevin to stay back, moving around the couch into Ryan's bedroom as I noticed Gable's name on my caller ID.  
    "Hello?" I asked.  
    "I imagine you and your wizards heard that," Gable noted in a happy tone. "Do let them know I apologize. I was reinforcing that opus of a containment spell around Eleni's home."  
    "What?" I asked blankly.  
    "Do you mean me to repeat it or explain it?" he asked curiously.  
    "Sorry, I'm processing what that most likely means. Um...are you okay?"  
    "Oh, quite well," he reassured me happily. "I was going to eat the siren, then realized that starving her would amuse me _so_ much more."  
    I closed my eyes.  
    "At any rate, I'm heading for you now if you could be sure the wards were down to allow me entrance. Did you find a place to eat? I'm quite hungry."  
    "I found a nice place," I agreed quickly. "The three of them are getting ready now."  
    "Wonderful," he sounded pleased. "I'll be there in a few minutes."  
    "Alright," I agreed. "I'll get Kevin on the wards."  
    "Thank you."  
    The call ended, and I moved back into the main room to look between the three pale males.  
    "So," I muttered. "He said that he was reinforcing...that opus of a containment spell. He's decided that starving her will be more satisfying than eating her, and is on his way here."  
    Kevin looked around to the others, then nodded slightly. He disappeared down the hall.  
    "I don't know what he means by opus of a containment spell," I added, looking between the remaining pair. "Um, let me change."  
    "Opus?" Collin asked Ryan as I moved past them. "Isn't that supposed to be your master work? You already reach your peak? That's sad, man."  
    Ryan started laughing, and ducked back into the bathroom.  
    I didn't want to think too much about what had been said to me. Gable had been _far_ too pleased to say he'd starve her. Actually, the fact that he'd still be hungry on arrival made me nervous, too, because he'd obviously smelled the blood on me and on Ryan's hands.  
    I changed into a clean outfit, appreciating again that the slacks had all been tailored for me. They were almost as comfortable as lounge pants.  
    "...gize, because we had a patrol this afternoon, so we didn't get the chance to clean up."  
    "No worries," Gable's voice was calm and happy sounding. "This is quaint."  
    "Thanks," Kevin said in a slightly uncertain tone.  
    That was actually a compliment from Gable, I'd have to tell the wizards later. I smiled slightly, then moved into the main room again to smile at him.  
    "I'm confused," Gable said to me with curiosity on his face. "If you're coming from there, why do I smell you in there?" he pointed at Ryan's room.  
    "We fell asleep talking last night," I explained, moving to indicate the couch. "Let me get you some coffee."  
    His stomach rumbled.  
    I stopped, turning to look at him.  
    He smiled at me, the genuine one. "Don't worry yourself; did you make us a reservation?"  
    "No, I wasn't sure how long you'd be away and didn't want to set something up. I'll call them in a moment to be sure a table is ready for us."  
    "Be easy," he said seriously as he continued watching.  
    His stomach rumbled again.  
    "Bui, please be welcome as our guest," Ryan muttered as he finally moved from the bathroom. "I apologize; we're trying to change for supper quickly."  
    Gable's stomach rumbled again as he blinked at the wizard.  
    "I invited him in as our guest," Kevin noted, stopping nearby with his hands in his pockets.  
    Ryan looked nervously to me, then turned and dug into the ice-box. "Can I offer you a drink?" he asked the dragon.  
    "I'd appreciate if we could leave soon," Gable noted seriously.  
    "Sorry!" Collin called. "I'm shaving as quick as I can manage."  
    Gable tapped the fingers of one hand against his knee, and I looked around pointedly to Ryan.  
    Gable's stomach rumbled again.  
    "You are afraid," Gable said, focusing on me with distinct interest. "Why are you afraid?"  
    "Despite my knowledge that you've said you won't eat me," I hesitated to move nearer. "My instincts are warning me of a hungry predator. It makes me uneasy, and there's actually nothing we can do to hurry Collin along."  
    "Ah," he frowned at me, then looked to Ryan. "Do you have something to snack on?"  
    Ryan turned to dig a few things out of the cupboards around me.  
    "That was your containment spell carved into the bedrock, was it not?" Gable asked curiously as Ryan offered him a bowl of mixed nuts and a beer.  
    "Um, yes," Ryan agreed, popping the cap quickly and turning to consider their little kitchen.  
    "I was quite impressed," Gable offered. "It was starting to wear down, though, so I etched it in further. That was the explosion you heard."  
    "Thank you," Ryan muttered, blinking at him.  
    "I completed the circle entirely," Gable added as he sipped at the beer, then pulled back to look at it.  
    "Um, that's a stout from a local brewery," Ryan offered. "I've heard it compared to a loaf of bread in a bottle. I hope the taste is adequate."  
    "It's quite good," Gable agreed, taking another drink. "I wasn't expecting it, though."  
    Ryan ducked into his room.  
    "Have your instincts calmed yet?" Gable asked me with a smile as he ate another handful of nuts. "I don't imagine you want to be standing right now."  
    I smiled slightly at that, moving to sit next to him on the couch.  
    Gable looked the area over again with interest, then tilted his head to me. "That other said they hadn't had time to clean. I don't see much beyond dust out of order, though."  
    "I imagine they meant to put the dishes away and straighten this covering," I supplied, indicating the blanket on the couch. "Closing the room and hall doors, too. I imagine he also wanted to apologize to you because they've seen your house, and this place doesn't compare favorably to it."  
    "It seems much more comfortable, though," he noted, drinking more of the beer. "I've realized that we don't have a car here."  
    "Oh, let me call," I muttered, rising and opening my phone browser again. "And I figured that we can ride between our two cars. If we park toward the back of the lot, no one will see them."  
    He laughed at that, munching happily on more nuts as he went back to reading the bottle.  
    Right.  
    I moved off to the corner of the room and hit the call button.  
  
  
 ***Ryan**  
    Eating supper with a dragon seemed like it should be happening in a pit surrounded by fire and brimstone. My imagination conjured images of a simple kitchen table with chairs on a sooty black stone...but no, we were pulling into one of the multiple venues where paparazzi waited for actor, politicians, or other such starlets.  
    Considering who was all present, I'd opted to drive my car and let Brian drive his dragon. We moved into the nearest parking tower and through it to an area where there were two spots open. Brian was laughing and talking with the dragon as he climbed out of the machine, and I blinked as Bui upturned the hat-box to sit on his head.  
    Brian laughed more, saying something in a familiar and chiding tone, and Bui offered him that same genuine smile as he tossed the box back into the car.  
    Okay, then.  
    The twins and I moved from the car to look between them with interest.  
    "You didn't see anything," Bui informed me with a grin.  
    Brian laughed happily, stepping back as the doors were all closed again.  
    "I'm starving," Bui said happily, moving around to lead us toward the sidewalk. "Are you all?"  
    "Yes," Brian agreed happily. "I didn't realize it until just now, though. I'm hoping it's noisy in there because my stomach is growling."  
    "Should I shy away from you?" Bui asked brightly.  
    "Obviously," Brian agreed.  
    Bui laughed as the building around us thrummed with his footsteps. He continued making happy conversation, and after a few comments, I opted on a comment of my own. It also made the dragon laugh, and Brian flashed me a grateful smile as he fell in to walk with me.  
    It was actually pleasant.  
    Considering that I'd never spent that much time with that respected a creature, the actual banter that started made me nervous. I had no idea where the line was, but when I did say something before I could stop myself, Bui laughed genuinely and pointed at me with his fork.  
    He sighed when he'd finished eating his three mostly raw steaks, sitting back to sip at the wine happily. The conversation took a more serious turn as he started on his vegetables, evidently enjoying himself immensely.  
    He was talking about a water heater.  
    It took me a while to realize that Brian must have said something to him about our water heater. I'd never been too fussed about it, at least not since my magic had manifested. No water heater worked long for me, and sharing the apartment with Kevin and any passing wardens meant that we didn't get hot water for more than dishes. I was completely content with our apartment because the building was heated and cooled by a thermostat at the other end of the building. It also used a forced air system, which meant that there weren't any mechanics in our apartment to make it stop working.  
    Besides, we got hot showers at the dojo pretty much whenever we wanted them.  
    The night moved on with Kevin and Collin growing comfortable enough to start talking as well, and when Bui ordered more wine, I realized that Brian was refraining from drinking with a sad look.  
    "Might I suggest that we retire to the apartment?" I asked curiously. "Though there's no reason for you to be forced to sleep there, but you are welcome."  
    "Oh no," he said, frowning at me. "I have to return to Vegas tonight. Is there a problem?"  
    "Only that Brian and I can't partake," I smiled at him. "We have to drive."  
    "Oh," he frowned as he looked between us, then nodded. "Right. Back to your apartment for another lovely stout, and then I'll have to head home. Are you coming with me?" he asked Brian.  
    "My car," Brian reminded him. "And a pick-up tomorrow."  
    "Oh drat," Bui sighed, then shook his head. "Well, you can stay as long as you'd like; it'll be easier for you to be here to sign off when the new hot water heater is installed."  
    "If you'd like," Brian agreed easily.  
    I blinked at him.  
    He smiled without looking at me. "How long do you think that will be?"  
    "Hoc is setting up the order now," Bui explained. "So I imagine it'll be within the next two days."  
    "Alright," Brian agreed. "I'll be sure my phone and laptop stay charged and connected, then, so you can contact me."  
    Bui smiled brightly at him, then downed the glass of wine before asking the waitress for our check.  



End file.
